The present invention is directed to a method for the tinting and further processing of at least one tinted light waveguide for the manufacture of either a light waveguide bundle, a light conducting lead or an optical cable.
A method for tinting light waveguides is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,285, whose disclosure is incorporated by reference thereto and which was the basis of European Patent Specification No. 0 155 092. As disclosed in this patent, a first supply reel is provided, from which the light waveguide to be tinted is drawn off in a tangential direction and, thus, free of any twist or torsion. After implementation of the tinting process, the tinted light waveguide is, again, tangentially wound onto a driven, second supply reel.
German Published Application No. 34 14 396 discloses a process in which a light waveguide is hauled-off overhead from a supply reel; which means that the waveguide is pulled off along the axis of the reel. As disclosed in this reference, difficulties can occur in the region between the haul-off and the following additional processing devices, for example, a stranding unit or the like, because the overhead haul-off produces a torsion or twist of the light waveguides. In particular, there is always the risk that disturbing loops will be formed which will lead to a ripping or tearing of the light waveguide. In order to counter this difficulty, the German reference uses superimposed, uniform rotation of the light waveguide to counteract the twist produced by the haul-off. In the German reference, this is accomplished by two rollers, which are additionally applied and which rotate in opposite directions as they grip the fiber that passes therebetween, and the pair of rollers are also rotate on the axis of the fiber to perform a twisting action to the fiber. The size of this rotation on the axis is selected to be approximately such that it corresponds to the haul-off rotation and practically compensates the latter due to its opposite direction.